The major portion of the circulation of most newspapers is delivered to the home of the readers. The labor involved in home delivery makes this operation expensive. Newspapers are commonly printed and delivered to the local distributor a section at a time as the sections are completed. In this way, an efficient use is made of labor and equipment. Further, many features requiring long preparation can be reported as well as the most current news, which is contained in the last section to arrive at the distributor. A great deal of time is expended by the distributor by in assembling the sections of the newspaper prior to home delivery. To prevent the sections from coming apart, they are folded inside one another. In the case of many Sunday newspaper, for example, the process of assembling the sections of the newspaper begins about a week in advance and proceeds gradually until the time of delivery.
For many years, it has been the practice of delivery boys to roll or fold each newspaper into a bundle in order to throw it more easily without having it come apart. Recently, newspaper distributors started packaging newspapers in a protective film during bad weather to prevent them from becoming wet. Following the common practice, each newspaper is rolled or folded into a bundle and then packaged. When the newspaper is a thick one, the packaged bundle is difficult to grasp because of its large diameter and slick outer surface. When the packaging operation is performed by hand, it further adds to the time required to prepare the newspaper for delivery. There are machines in existence for rolling the newspapers in a bundle and packaging them in a protective film. These machines are, however, complex and difficult to operate. There are also machines in existence for packaging elongated articles other than newspapers. However, these machines do not meet the special problems presented by newspaper packaging.
Machines for packaging newspaper are known in the art. One such machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,367 which is hereby incorporated by reference. The machine disclosed in this patent allows for a newspaper to be packaged as each newspaper is carried individually in a flat horizontal position through the machine. As each newspaper is carried into the machine its leading edge contacts a continuous sheet of protective material. The protective material is drawn from a top roll positioned above the paper and the bottom roll positioned beneath the paper. As each newspaper travels through the machine the force of the protective sheet against the leading edge of the newspaper causes the protective sheets to be drawn from the top and bottom rolls. After the newspaper is completely enveloped on its top surface and bottom surface by the protective sheets a sealing and cutting mechanism is activated that operates to seal the top and bottom protective sheets together and simultaneously cuts a sealed portion of the protective sheets.
Although the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,367 addresses the need of packaging a newspaper in a protective film, it does not disclose the optimal solution. For example, although most weekend newspapers are fairly thick, most weekday papers are relatively thin which has been found to cause problems in machines where the protective material is dispensed onto the surface of the newspaper by the newspapers leading edge against the protective sheet. As the weekday paper is passed through the machine its leading edge comes into contact with the protective sheet. However, as the paper is carried through the machine the force exerted on the leading edge of the newspaper by the protective sheet overcomes the newspaper rigidly, causing the newspaper to bend and fold as it passes through the machine. Ultimately, this may result in newspapers of lessor contents.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,367 discloses a machine for packaging newspapers that envelopes a newspaper in a sheet of protective material as it is individually carried in a flat, horizontal position by conveyor through the machine. This reference is hereby incorporated by reference. As the newspaper enters the machine its leading edge comes into contact against a sheet of protective material that is drawn from a top roll residing, above the newspaper, and a bottom roll, that resides below the newspaper. As the newspaper is continuously carried through the machine a section of the protective sheet drawn from the top roll is forced over the top surface of the newspaper. At the same time, a section of the protective sheet drawn from the bottom roll is forced over the bottom surface of the newspaper.
The protective sheets are drawn from the top and bottom rolls by the force of the leading edge of the newspaper against the protective sheet. After the newspaper has traveled a sufficient distance through the machine such that its top and bottom surfaces are completely covered, a sealing and cutting mechanism is activated that seals the protective sheets from the top and bottom roll together, and simultaneously cuts a sealed portion of the protective sheet at the end of the newspaper.
Although in U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,367 discloses a machine for packaging newspapers, it does not solve all of the special problems inherent in newspaper packaging. For example, the thickness and, thus a newspaper's rigidity, may vary depending on whether the newspaper is a weekday or week end edition. Newspapers that report the weekly news tend on average to have a smaller contents and be thinner than weekend newspapers. Accordingly, a newspaper wrapping machine should be constructed that would accommodate the size fluctuations between weekday and weekend papers.
The machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,367 is known to experience problems when it is used to wrap newspapers having a small contents such as a weekday newspaper. As the newspaper enters the machine its leading edge is brought into contact with the sheet of protective material. As the newspaper is carried through the machine, due to the decreased rigidity of the newspaper, the force needed to draw the protective sheets from the top and bottom rolls overcomes the rigidity of the newspaper, causing the paper to bend and fold up within the wrapping. This bending and folding of weekday newspapers during the wrapping operation produces a product that must be rewrapped before delivery to the customer that will defeat the efficiency of using a machine. Ultimately, using the machine to process such papers may slowdown, jam, or even cause the machine to shut down. Accordingly, a need exists for a machine that can package newspapers in an effective manner regardless of the particular thickness of the newspaper.